NASA: We’ll find alien life in 20 to 30 years

There will be “strong indications” of alien life within a decade and “definite evidence” of it within 20 to 30 years, NASA’s chief scientist has said. “We know where to look. We know how to look,” Ellen Stofan said during a panel discussion on NASA’s search for alien life and habitable worlds. “In most cases, we have the technology, and we’re on a path to implementing it.”

But she was quick to add: “We are not talking about little green men. We are talking about little microbes.” Her colleague John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut and associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate, agreed.

“I think we’re one generation away in our solar system, whether it’s on an icy moon or on Mars, and one generation [away] on a planet around a nearby star,” Grunsfeld said Jeffery Newmark, NASA’s interim director of heliophysics, added: “It’s definitely not an if, it’s a when.”

You can watch the full discussion below:

Scientists have been searching for extraterrestrial life for years. One way was by searching for alien air pollution.

And recent discoveries suggest that several nearby planets — and their moons — could support some form of life. For example, scientists said they thought there was a warm ocean on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. NASA scientists confirmed that Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has a salty ocean below its surface. Scientists believe that the presence of water is one possible sign of life.

Steve is interested in all things science and science fiction. He is a fan of alien mythology as well as ancient alien theories. He is currently involved with film making, TV production, script development and producing.